*** The Untz Challenge IV ***

Contest Closed This contest has been concluded and a winner has been chosen.

The Untz Challenge IV: Turn Your Dreams into a Reality

TheUntz.com once again gives electronic music producers the chance to perform at major U.S. music festivals this summer

After hundreds upon hundreds of submissions, the staff of TheUntz.com has chosen the top 75 tracks to be finalists in The Untz Challenge IV. This year's submission process yielded the highest levels of talent that this competition has seen over the past four years. We've got an incredible crop of finalists, and unfortunately, we had to cut some really talented artists along with their high-quality tunes. It's just the nature of the game. For those who didn't make it, we salute your efforts, and encourage you to keep after it. We run contests all the time, and its our goal to expose up-and-coming acts to our growing fan base, so keep after it--up your game, work even harder, and you'll be back better than ever the next time around.

For those who did make the cut, the fun is just starting. For the next few weeks, it's your job to organize your fan base, and get out the vote. Our competitions have always gone down to the wire, and this year the stakes are higher than ever. And because those stakes are higher, we are well aware that competitors will try to employ any tactics available to gain a competitive advantage. JUST DON'T DO IT. If you cheat, you will be disqualified. If your fans cheat on your behalf, you will be disqualified. That's part of our ZERO TOLERANCE policy. So reign in your overzealous fans, and make sure that they are only voting once. We will do whatever we can to create an even playing field. Make sure you don't do anything to screw up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Best of luck to all the competitors. This is that big break you've been looking for...

For all you hustling producers, making beats in your bedroom and playing house parties for your friends—this one’s for you. TheUntz.com is bringing back The Untz Challenge, but this time the stakes are higher than ever and are guaranteed to change your electronic music career forever.

Our prize package includes the opportunity to perform at the biggest and best summer music festivals taking place across the United States--and this year, we went absolutely bananas. The two winners of The Untz Challenge IV will be playing at NINE major music festivals across four months spanning the length of the country from coast to coast. Our two winning acts will hit Summer Camp Music Festival (May 24-26 - Chillicothe, IL), Wakarusa (May 30-June 2 - Ozark, AR), Infrasound (May 31-June 2 - Black River Falls, WI), IMPULSE (June 6-9 - Atlanta, GA), Sonic Bloom (June 13-16 – Georgetown, CO), Electric Forest (June 27-30 - Rothbury, MI), Lightning in a Bottle (July 11-15 - Temecula, CA), The Big Up (Aug 8-10 - Claverack, NY), and recently announced newcomer ARISE (Aug 14-18 - Loveland, CO)! Yes, we are well aware that this is the opportunity of a lifetime. This kind of break could make your career as a DJ/producer/electronic act. Do we have your attention, yet?

Beginning March 18th and continuing until March 29th, The Untz will accept submissions for the competition via SoundCloud. During the month of April, fans will vote on their favorite tracks via TheUntz.com.

A total of 2 slots will be given away to the winners of this contest. The grand prize, which includes a performance slot at each of the participating festivals, will be won through the fan voting process. The second place winner is chosen by the staff of TheUntz.com, and will have the opportunity to perform at the same dates along the run.

ORIGINAL tracks must be submitted to The Untz Challenge SoundCloud DropBox (www.soundcloud.com/theuntzchallenge/dropbox) beginning March 18th, and we will continue to accept submissions until March 29th at 11:59 pm PST. (DO NOT SUBMIT TRACKS BEFORE 3/18/13)

Submitted tracks must be UNRELEASED prior to the contest start date, which covers singles, EPs, LPs, and compilations on major and independent labels, free/paid releases via Bandcamp, and free downloads/streams on SoundCloud.

Tracks must REMAINUNRELEASED (excluding Soundcloud) until the contest is over (April 26).

Artists retain the rights of ownership of their work.

Tag your submission with "The Untz Challenge IV" and write"The Untz Challenge IV" in the description of the track AND in the personal note so we know you didn't submit a track accidentally (3 total places).

Keep your track LIVE on SoundCloud for the duration of the contest. DO NOT remove the track from your SoundCloud account or it will be removed from our submitted list.

Please submit only ONE track per DJ/producer/group. If you submit more than one, only your first entry will be considered—and it will annoy us to no end, which is not a good thing.

DO NOT submitMIXES, REMIXES, or STOLEN WORK. (Yes, we understand DJs create mixes, but we want ORIGINAL, SINGLE tracks for this particular competition.)

Each track my contain samples of length NO LONGER THAN 30 CONTINUOUS SECONDS. If the sample is produced/sourced by the artist, then its length is of no consequence; however, any work sampled by the artist from another person's work must fall within the 30 second guideline. All submitted tracks MUST NOT infringe US copyright law. Any track removed by SoundCloud for potential copyright infringment will also be disqualified from this contest.

The Untz staff will compile a list of the best submissions.

Only votes originating from verified email providers (i.e. Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Live, AOL, university emails, etc.) will be counted. Blatant use of unverified emails/spam accounts will result in disqualification.

Voting by the public will take place from April 4-26

NO bot voting

NO voting incentives (i.e. "each voter gets a free iPad")

NO voting raffles (i.e. "we'll take one lucky voter to each festival with us")

The contest is restricted to residents of the United States and Canada. Winners will be responsible for providing their own transportation to and from the festivals. Additionally, they will be responsible for bringing whatever equipment necessary to perform at the various festivals, within the specifications outlined in the technical riders and contracts of each individual event. Each festival reserves the right to choose when and where to schedule the winners' slots, including but not limited to, pre-parties, after-parties, and silent discos. The winners may not be afforded full artist privileges at each event—certain events will grant the winners access to hospitality, accommodations, and restricted areas beyond that of regular ticketholders, but each individual festival will communicate restrictions/privileges with the winners.

One of the main objectives of TheUntz.com is to give exposure to promising talent in the electronic music scene. The spirit of competition fostered by these annual challenges is all in good fun, because at the end of the day, fans from around the world are going to get a chance to hear amazing, cutting-edge productions from tomorrow’s biggest stars. It goes without saying, but cheating will NOT be tolerated when it comes time for voting. We've seen it all, so this is just a friendly reminder that big brother is watching, and he knows his programming. Just because this is an electronic music competition, it doesn’t mean we want robots voting. Breaking any of these rules will result in automatic disqualification. Immediate disqualification is a harsh penalty, so make sure you stay within the boundaries.

Cheating WILL NOT be tolerated. TheUntz.com has algorithms in place to detect falsified or "bot" voting. Any competitor even suspected of cheating will be disqualified, so make sure nobody is mucking up your chances of winning with or without your permission.